"Mr Putin is discovering that global finance is more frightened of the US Securities and Exchange Commission than Russian T90 tanks"

A quick read is advised.

" Russia's Vladimir Putin has committed a grave strategic blunder by tearing up the international rule book without a green light from China. Any hope of recruiting Beijing as an ally to blunt Western sanctions looks doomed, and with it the Kremlin's chances of a painless victory, or any worthwhile victory at all. Mr Putin was careful to thank China's Politburo for its alleged support in his victory speech on Crimea. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has been claiming with his usual elasticity that “Russia and China have coinciding views on the situation in Ukraine.” This is of course a desperate lie. China did not stand behind Russia in the UN Security Council vote on Crimea, as it had over Syria. It pointedly abstained. Its foreign ministry stated that “China always sticks to the principle of non-interference in any country’s internal affairs and respects the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” "

The Ukraine simply has two main ethnicities in dispute, wth one idiotic side against the other idiotic side.

"The now exceedingly dangerous confrontation between the two Ukraines was not “ignited,” as the Times claims,
by Yanukovych’s duplicitous negotiating — or by Putin — but by the EU’s reckless ultimatum, ..."

Yeah, it's always some one else's fault. You just had to interfere, you had no choice.

The world is ever grateful to Mother Russia. Just look at Hungary and the Czechs, and all those Ukrainian corpses.
And Russia's alliance with Hitler while they divided up Poland.

I just don't know why most sane people can't see how benign and beneficial KGB Shorty is.

"... in November, that the democratically elected president of a profoundly divided country choose between Europe and Russia."

The Russians poisoned one leader, they have imprisoned the next one, and still the Ukrainians just don't
appreciate the Russian good intentions. Some people show no gratitude at all.

"Putin’s proposal for a tripartite arrangement, rarely if ever reported, was flatly rejected by US and EU officials."

Boo hoo, they won't take Shorty seriously. They just won't give him what he asks for. Adolf was faced with
similar problems. Why can't the West just recognise a new Fuhrer when he appears?

"This was the point where the US / EU went mad and warmongering."

Yes, old Adolf kept going on about how he only wanted peace. A piece of this, and a piece of that. Why doesn't
America and Europe bow down before such a natural leader? It's a complete mystery.

a GDP equivalent to the UK or to France, with double
the population of each of those two;

an aging an dying population;

a second world, poor country
faced by the wealthy empires of the EUSSR and the USA.

Where do people get the belief that Putin/Russia is 'strong'?
Putin is like a poker player with the low hand, trying desperately
to bluff the other players who have a royal flush and a full house.
Russia's interests are with the West, not posturing
as a 'great power' on the back of a padded seat at the UN,
a few nukes and a bit of obsolescent filthy fossil fuels resources.

The Russian kleptocrats with real money or power want a London
mansion, and to keep as far away from Russia as possible.
The next layer have romantic notions of sunning themselves
in the Crimea.

The Western fossil media should 'get real'!!

Trade with this small economy is an insignificant proportion
of Western trade. The great fly in the ointment is the European dependency on
Russian oil.

Here Europe, and Germany in particular, have made the grave
error of not renewing and developing clean safe nuclear power. This lack of foresight, and the lack of courage in allowing
this foolish policy, borders on treason.

With a sane nuclear policy in the West, Russia would be far less
able to threaten anyone. Lacking the oil weapon, Russia, already near to a basket case, would
collapse without Western help.

was palin able to warn obama that putin may invade ukraine - because she can see russia?

Or is it because Obama has no sense, or guts?

Perhaps he's stoned, or is his teleprompter is broken?

"In October 2008, then-Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin warned that Putin, having been motivated by Obama's lack of response to the Russian invasion of Georgia, would proceed to invade Ukraine if then-Senator Obama was elected to the presidency.

"After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine next.

"Foreign Policy dismissed this warning as "strange" and "far-fetched."

"As we've said before, this is an extremely far-fetched scenario. And given how Russia has been able to unsettle Ukraine's pro-Western government without firing a shot, I don't see why violence would be necessary to bring Kiev to heel." [Quoted from townhall.com]

Meanwhile, Shorty pretends to ask his Russian puppet parliament for 'permission' to pour in more troops.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin asked parliament Saturday for permission to use the country's military in Ukraine, moving to formalize what Ukrainian officials described as an ongoing deployment of Russian troops in the strategic region of Crimea." [Quoted from abcnews.go.com]

"Iran's red line at Geneva, the thing it would not trade away, was a capacity to continue and resume nuclear bomb development at any time. Iran's offer at Geneva amounted to a six-month delay of its nuclear program that will not in any way impair its ability to get back to bomb-making at any time." [Quoted from edition.cnn.com]

Observers are struggling to lay blame for the failure of Iran and world powers to reach agreement at nuclear talks in Geneva over the weekend. Some say it was France’s fault; others say it was Iran’s; many are eager to blame the Israelis, who weren’t even there." [Quoted from swampland.time.com]

"One close ally, France, was worried about what its foreign minister called a “fool’s game.” Mr. Kerry said that in the end Iran backed away from a deal. [Quoted from washingtonpost.com]

"Kerry: Iran deal unfinished because Iranians need to consult with leaders in Tehran"
—
"Secretary of State John F. Kerry, defending a potential nuclear deal with Iran, extolled President Obama on Monday as a strong foreign policy leader and a “man of his word,” whose guarantee that Iran will never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon should be heeded by doubters."
— "Saudi Arabia, which sees Iran as its principal rival and threat in the region, said it accepted Obama’s assurances, but the kingdom warned Kerry against a “partial deal” when he visited there last week." [Quoted from washingtonpost.com]

"US Secretary of State John Kerry has said Iran backed out of a deal on its nuclear programme during talks with world powers in Geneva on Saturday. Amid reports that France's reservations scuppered an agreement, Mr Kerry told reporters in Abu Dhabi: "The French signed off on it; we signed off on it." [Quoted from bbc.co.uk]

"We never thought we'd say this, but thank heaven for French foreign-policy exceptionalism. At least for the time being, François Hollande's Socialist government has saved the West from a deal that would all but guarantee that Iran becomes a nuclear power." [Quoted from wsj.com]

"Speaking on French radio, Fabius said a deal was close, and denied that Western powers were divided, insisting that France was “neither isolated” nor content with just following others..." [Quoted from worldcrunch.com]

"As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Russia will pay top priority attention to the fight against racism, xenophobia and other manifestations of intolerance, and to the protection of traditional values" [Quoted from voiceofrussia.com]

I wonder winch 'traditional values' they will 'protect'.

[176 votes out of 192]
""The Chinese government attaches great importance to the promotion and protection of human rights. It has made remarkable achievements and has vigorously developed international cooperation in the field of human rights," said Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, after the election."
—
"In addition to China, the other 13 countries elected to the Council Tuesday include Algeria, Cuba, France, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Britain, and Viet Nam." [Quoted from english.peopledaily.com.cn]

[140 votes out of 192]
"Senior Saudi officials, especially those associated with human rights organizations, expressed joy over the news..."[140 votes] .... "Al-Quaiyid added: “Saudi Arabia … has taken several initiatives to promote and protect human rights … this will give a chance to the Kingdom to play a global role in the domain of human rights promotion..." [Quoted from arabnews.com]